“If someone told you that you could study abroad in an exotic, new, and exciting city for practically the same amount you’re paying to go to school in Troy, why wouldn’t you?” This is the question posed by Bailey Richert ’09, after studying abroad at the University College London (UCL) during the spring 2007 semester. The program at UCL is affiliated with RPI, which offered Richert the opportunity to use her financial aid toward the tuition of her host university. As an environmental engineering major, Richert chose UCL specifically since it is an institution that offers an engineering focus. “It was one of the only host schools I could find with classes to RPI’s caliber,” Richert explains.
Though Richert spent a semester away from RPI, she certainly did not take a vacation from her studies. At UCL, she completed coursework in environmental science, including structural geology, earth materials, and surface processes. These courses offered opportunities to do hands-on, on-site fieldwork, and counted toward her second major in hydrogeology. Richert also took an archaeology class studying late Paleolithic and Mesolithic societies, in which she learned about cave art.
Since Richert is pursuing a tough dual major at RPI, she will have to take 20 to 21 credits a semester in order to graduate on time next year. She said that while she might not always enjoy catching up on her studies at RPI, she could not imagine giving up her cross-cultural experience “just to lighten my load.”
While in London, Richert lived in a single room in a dormitory building in Camden. She shared a floor with students from Greece, China, India, and Wales. “Nothing made my day better than to come home after a day of sightseeing around London to my close London friends sipping tea and eating biscuits in the lounge, greeting me as I walked in,” she said. Camden itself, located in northern London, has an urban punk flavor, and is home to the famous Camden Market.
Spending a semester in London allowed Richert to learn about some of the vast differences between American and English culture. Her immersion in the British culture included “learning the colloquial words, shopping in open air markets instead of malls, and becoming addicted to watching football (soccer) at my favorite pub.”
While in London, Richert visited many of its museums and open-air markets. She also divided her free time between attending church and performing in a dance troupe. The dance troupe performed Bhangra, which Richert describes as “Indian hip-hop.” Despite having no experience with this particular genre, Richert is an avid dancer, and decided to try it. Her troupe ended up winning a talent competition.
The British higher education system differs from many American institutions. Richert explained that courses ran for three months straight, with no exams, only homework. Then, instead of a weeklong “spring break,” students had a month off to study for final exams. “Considering I only had three final exams, I didn’t exactly need four weeks to review. Thus, Europe called!” During this break, Richert traveled to many cities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, the Vatican City, and Rome. When making travel plans, Richert utilized hostelworld.com for booking hotels and hostels, and ryanair.com and easyjet.com for booking cheap airfare.
Richert’s advice to students interesting in studying abroad is to perform as much research as possible. “From street names to currency, food types to languages, research everything you can think of! It doesn’t take the fun out of learning and experiencing new things for the first time. Rather, it will make you feel more assured and comfortable in a setting where you might be easily confused,” she said.
Richert also notes the importance of checking that your class credit will transfer to RPI. “Ways to make sure that you won’t run into problems later on include contacting the professors abroad in advance to make sure their course is truly being offered and also getting RPI’s transfer credit approval forms signed ahead of time to lessen the chance of contest later on,” she explained.
Studying abroad has influenced Richert’s career goals. She has decided that she wants to work in a setting that is influential on an international level, to satisfy her thirst to be a part of something big. “There’s a gigantic world out there, and I don’t want to waste a second of my life not being a part of its future,” Richert said.
Though Richert acknowledged that there were certainly times she felt out of her element, she will never regret her decision to study abroad. She has many priceless memories that she will cherish for a long time. Some of her favorite moments included seeing the Pope while in Rome and the feeling she had when she saw Michelangelo’s David for the first time in Florence. Memories such as these made spending a semester away from RPI worthwhile, and helped enhance her education.
Note: Though Bob Conway, the former study abroad advisor, retired in June, Kathleen O’Connor has recently joined the RPI staff as his replacement.
